In our technological age, many people probably would probably think of the Vancouver Public Library like an iPad — great if you want to consume content but not the go-to resource for creating it.

That’s about the change with TOUCH, an event Oct. 4 that will combine interactive innovation and entertainment, giving attendees an idea of what they can expect in 2014 when the library opens its new Inspiration Lab — a space where people will be able to tell stories, edit videos, record sound and find all the digital resources they need to transform their creative ideas into reality and collaborate with others.

Touch will be a lesson in libraries 3.0, and it’s the kickoff for a $250,000 fundraising campaign that will see 3,000 square feet on the central library’s third floor in downtown Vancouver transformed.

“This fundraiser is meant to create a strong linkage in the minds of people that may view libraries in a traditional sense,” said Daphne Wood, VPL’s director of planning and development.

“Story-telling, the act of writing, sharing content and building on the words of each other are things libraries have always done and now we are doing them in a different way, now we have more tools at our disposal.”

The library’s not just about borrowing books any more.

It can be about creating your own ebook.

“There is a centre for self-publishing support,” Wood said of the Inspiration Lab plans. “It will be staffed by the library staff at the central library. You’ll be able to sit down and they’ll say ‘tell me about your project, what would you like to do and here are all the various ways you can publish your ebook.’”

And videos? Don’t think you’ll just be watching them — although a screening space is on the wish list once the initial needs of the lab are funded — you’ll be creating them.

“The people using the lab will be people like you and me who not only like to consume stories but they are people who like to generate and create stories,” said Wood. “That’s where libraries are really playing a strong role in going forward.

“They are not just places to get information, they are places where you can go to to create and share information. There will be a digital recording studio and sound mixing equipment, video editing software and workstations.

“People can come in and build their own short videos and there will be scanners where people can come in and digitize photos or other material they want to convert to a digitized form.”

VPL Inspiration Lab artist rendering

As well as marking its shift to the digital age, the library is also stepping away from traditional of fundraising, eschewing the sit-down dinner in favour of a diversion for Vancouver’s digerati that will feature Lady Gaga’s DJ Brendan Jay Sullivan (DJ Vh1); a silent auction with goodies like Recon Jet wearable computer sports glasses and others from Vancouver companies; interactive and live-tweeting story creation and other activities.

“We didn’t want to have a stuffy event — anything typical of a traditional fundraiser,” said Paula Shackleton, a member of the VPL Foundation board and co-chair of TOUCH. “We wanted this to be a vital, active, forward-thinking fusion between music, art and technology.”

So far, says Shackleton, the appeal has been well-received by Vancouver’s digital sector whose members are among the first to recognize the difficulties of the digital divide and the vital role the library can play in helping to narrow it.

“We are meeting people in the technology sector in Vancouver,” she said. “We are getting to know those who we are calling our young digerati — people who live in our neighbourhood, they are our library users, they are future patrons and they are benefactors.

“They totally get the fact that this is the direction libraries need to take and they feel passionate about getting involved and supporting it.”

Telus has contributed $50,000 for the initiative and is a title sponsor for TOUCH. The Vancouver Sun and CBC are media sponsors and a number of other businesses and organizations, including the BC Technology Industry Association, have partnered with the library to help launch what is planned to be an annual event.

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